A/N: Thanks for the wait guys. Here's chapter 4, after a plain Christmas and Boxing Day I was able to get inspiration for what to have in this chapter, so I guarantee it will be definitely better than Chapter 3. I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas and that you will continue reading and enjoying my story. Thanks a lot for all the follows, reviews and favorites. NAZA is amazing!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. They belong to Hiro Mashima-sensei.

First Encounter

Near the Shores of Galuna Island

Gray Fullbuster continued to row the boat he and his partner were on, an activity he had been doing for the past two hours. He was getting a little exhausted, however, although he didn't feel like stopping anytime soon, since he knew that they had almost arrived at the destination where they had received the job request. Looking behind him, he spotted the silhouette of an island in the distant horizon, and a smile formed on his now sweaty face. The weather itself was unbearably hot, so he was shirtless and beads of sweat appeared on his well-toned torso.

On the opposite side of the boat, lay Juvia Lockser. She was sprawled on the deck of the boat, the heat having taken a more sever toll on her than on Gray. Since her body was practically water, she could easily get dehydrated in the scorching heat, plus an activity that required a considerable amount of physical strength, such as boat-rowing, would only aid in exhausting her faster. Gray had managed to make an ice shade for her, his ice did have the uncanny ability not to be melted by the sun's rays, and he offered to row the boat, taking into account her weaknesses. Juvia then looked at Gray, before bowing apologetically after managing to sit up, but remaining in the range of the shadow created by Gray's ice. This caught Gray by surprise.

"What are you making that face for?" He asked her, still rowing the boat. Juvia looked up from her position into Gray's handsome face, which caused her face to redden a bit. However, she managed to recollect herself again, before replying, "I'm sorry, Gray-sama. This is my entire fault. If I wasn't so affected by the heat I would have definitely helped in rowing the boat. Sorry I can't be of much help in this situation," she concluded, with a saddened tone in her voice. Silence enveloped the duo for a bit before Gray scoffed, breaking the stillness. Now it was Juvia's turn to be surprised. "What are you talking about? I don't mind doing this job you know. Besides if you did row and get exhausted, what would happen if we reached our client and you were in no shape to do anything? Don't be too hard on yourself, Juvia," Juvia's heart fluttered a little at the mention of her name from Gray's mouth, "your strength is vital in this mission, so rest up and conserve your energy," he finished in a hearty tone. Juvia beamed at the words, before nodding and resuming her earlier position. Gray smiled a little, and he was a little grateful that Juvia was more cooperative than normal today. Normally she would have used such an opportunity to latch onto her "Gray-sama", so today proving different was a breather for Gray.

The two of them had received a job request from the chief of Galuna Island. It had been quite some time before Fairy Tail had heard from this specific client, so Gray was as surprised as the rest of the guild was. Deciding that the situation may have been serious as what happened with Lyon in the past, Gray decided to handle the job, since he already had some degree of familiarity with the clients. Apparently, the residents of the island were being attacked by what they described as a "bear-like" creature, which maimed them on specific nights and also kidnapped a young demon girl, since they were revealed to be missing in the mornings after each attack. The attacks had been going on for a week, and Gray found it odd that someone decided to attack the demons in their own home. Team Erza itself had been surprised at first when they found out the true nature of the demons, so they thought others would stay away from the island now that its true form was always on for everyone to see. Apparently not everyone was surprised, or so it seemed.

Juvia managed to hoodwink Gray into tagging along with her by requesting him in the presence of Mira. The two girls had formed a really close bond during Juvia's stay in Fairy Tail, so Mira edged on Gray to tag Juvia along, saying it wouldn't hurt to have her at least tag along him for a change. Since Juvia joined Fairy Tail, she always tried to go on a job with Gray, owing to the fact that he spent most of his time with Team Natsu. The few times he was alone he always made sure not to tell Juvia when he was heading out for his jobs, resuming in the evening or a few days later clearly exhausted and bruised. Juvia seemed to notice this, although she didn't mind much, since as long as Gray was okay she really didn't mind not being taken along on his jobs. This time, however, she wanted to come along with him, since the job itself looked difficult and she didn't know how long he would be gone, not wanting to spend a lot of time without him in the guild.

Juvia perked a little as they approached the island. Getting up quickly, she rushed towards the edge of the boat and looked into the sea. This startled Gray a little, so he asked Juvia, "What is it?" Juvia, however, continued to stare into the water, in which ripples had started forming and the water was now moving at a faster speed than the stillness which it held before. An expression of shock appeared on Juvia's face, and she looked at Gray a little before telling him, in a louder voice than she had ever spoken to him before, "Gray-sama, there's a storm coming this way." Gray looked into the sky, and surely enough a bunch of nimbus clouds had gathered into the sky above them, blocking out the sun that was there only mere moments ago, and causing the temperature to suddenly drop. This change in temperature had suddenly caused Juvia to become rejuvenated, and no sooner had Gray looked away from the sky than a bolt of lightning hit the boat, a few meters away from where Juvia and Gray both sat.

Water began filling up the boat rapidly, aided by how fast it was moving in the sea below them. Juvia held her hands across her mouth, clearly panicking, but not without good reason. The most obvious answer was to turn into water herself and carry Gray towards the island in her, but if the lightning did hit her as she was en route to the island, she would definitely be in dire straits. Gray seemed to have noticed this too, since due to his quick thinking, he clasped his hands together and shouted, "Ice Make: Floor!" No sooner had the words left his mouth than the sea beneath them froze instantly, stretching for miles before reaching the Island's shore. Holding out his hand to Juvia, he told her, "Let's go."

Juvia quickly took his hand and left the boat, which proved to be a good decision, since a bolt of lightning immediately hit the boat after her last foot had set off it, effectively sinking it. She stared at the boat for a few minutes, before Gray forcefully pulled her towards the direction he was walking in, cutting out her thoughts. Juvia then realized that Gray was holding her hand, and butterflies started forming in her stomach, and she tightened her grip on Gray's hand. Gray didn't seem to notice this, since the pace in his strides didn't change. At least something good came out of the ordeal, Juvia thought to herself.

Within half an hour the duo had arrived at the island shore, braving the cold weather and the frequent bolts of lightning that hit the ice at particular segments. However, Gray managed to immediately restore the damaged segments, and a light shower had appeared to drench the two completely. They made it successfully however, and to Gray's chagrin, the Chief was not at the shore awaiting their arrival. He realized that the two had to walk until his building, which was strategically placed at the centre of the island. Gray released Juvia's hand (much to her dismay) and the two immediately set off to the Chief, who happened to be the client to the mission.

They did not walk for long however, before Gray heard someone call out his name in the distance. Taken aback, he stopped and tried to look for the direction in which the voice had come from. Juvia, who was also made to stop because of the sudden voice, tried to locate where the sound was coming from. After noticing that it came west from where they were, she told Gray," Gray-sama, over there, "pointing at a running figure of a person. The figure kept on approaching them, and when it was within recognizable distance, Juvia scowled a bit. It was a female demon. Gray almost said, "Lu-"but suddenly he was cut off by a pair of arms wrapping themselves around his neck.

Lulu had hugged Gray so tightly that he almost lost his balance, but managed to regain it after staggering a few steps backwards. Juvia was seething behind him, which Lulu seemed to notice since she just rolled out her tongue at Juvia. "Lulu, it's so great to see you again. I hope you've been okay despite the recent events," Gray greeted her. Placing herself on the ground, she looked up at Gray (who had grown even taller in the short time they were apart) and smiled at him before replying, "It's so good to see you again, Gray," Who is this woman? Why does she not address Gray-sama with the proper honorifics? Juvia thought after hearing her call him "Gray"-"I've been good but not so much during the past one week. The girl who was kidnapped was the little sister of my best friend Miya, so she's been devastated over the past one week. I've been doing my best to console her, but to not avail, since her mood hasn't really improved. I'm really glad you could come though, I'm sure you'll rescue her little sister in no time with you partner, " she finished, now casting a look over at Juvia, who seemed to be staring daggers at her.

"OH, I almost forgot to introduce you. Lulu this is Juvia Lockser, she's my comrade and friend at Fairy Tail. Juvia this is Lulu. She's an acquaintance I met here in Galuna and she was very hospitable to me, Natsu and the others on the last night we spent here. And she's a very remarkable dancer," Gray added. The last sentence made Juvia scowl even more. Hmph. How dare this woman dance with Gray-sama. The nerve, he thoughts continued to grow more and more disdainful towards the woman, but she didn't say anything, since she didn't want to create a scene in front of Gray. She even reluctantly held out her hand to shake Lulu's already outstretched hand. Lulu's face was in some sort of smile that told Juvia she was enjoying the current situation.

After the brief introduction, Gray spike up again, "Lulu, would you mind taking us to the Chief's building. I have a rough idea where it used to be, but I don't want to make any mistakes and with you here I feel we will definitely get there faster." Lulu beamed at these words, and replied almost immediately, "Yes, of course," before holding Gray by his hand and leading him in the right direction. Juvia shouted," Hey! Don't forget about me here!" and started following the two. Gray, who seemed amused by the sudden gesture, didn't say anything and allowed himself to be led on. Lulu, who was humming a song to herself as she led the way, was elated. Having developed a crush on the handsome man whose hand she held in her own, she yearned for the day when she would meet him again. The heavens had answered her prayers, she thought, since he was now here again. She silently thanked Kami-sama and held on tightly to Gray's hand, which she felt, was big and strong.

However, something extraordinary happened almost immediately, just as the trio had walked a short distance ahead. Juvia and Gray turned their heads towards the sea, and saw, with great amazement, that the sea was completely frozen. Juvia looked at Gray, who indignantly replied, "It wasn't me." Gray then looked around to see if there was anyone else around other than them. There were a few villagers scattered around the beach, each of them carrying out their own activities. Lulu also looked positively scared at this point, she couldn't believe that the village had been locked out of the outside world. Gray and Juvia, of course, could leave anytime they wanted, but the other villagers could not. This was a grave problem. Gray remembered that none of the villagers could use Ice Make Magic like him, so he eliminated the idea of one of the villagers near the sea having frozen the sea to that extent. He himself had dispelled his Ice trail immediately he and Juvia had arrived at the shore, so he was definitely out of the question. Who was it that could perform such a feat, and go undetected by both him and Juvia?

Then suddenly, without warning, a second extraordinary feat occurred. The air around the shore began to crystallize, forming what seemed to be a wall. More and more air crystallized, and immediately Gray let go of Lulu's hand to rush towards the shore, but he was a few steps too late. The wall itself continued to become bigger and stretched out more and more into the sky, until eventually the whole island was encased in a dome of ice. Gray smashed his fist against the end of the shore he had reached, but it was futile. Staring into the depths of the sky, which was blocked out of view by the ice there, a harsh reality dawned upon him and Juvia, who had just appeared next to him to calm him down. The island had been effectively shut out of the outside world, with Gray and Juvia inside it.

End

A/N: There's chapter 4 guys. I originally decided to include Natsu and Erza in it, but then decided against it since it would kind of ruin the cliffhanger I had concluded with. Plus it was a good chance to show the other couples which I had promised would be in the story that is Gray and Juvia. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Have a belated Happy Christmas and enjoy! Thanks again for all your continued support;)